DT Automotive
by demonpixie1
Summary: Seeking to escape the chaos of NEST and the 'bots, Mikaela returned to her L.A. roots and some old friends. Including a certain bald behemoth she wished would see her as more than a kid.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is an idea I had for a (possibly) believable Transformers/FATF crossover, starring Dom and Mikaela. I kind of had this thought of 'Kaela having grown up with Dom, Mia and Vince in their younger years, but she got moved to Tranquility when her dad was put away. For background: This is pre-FATF and I'm using that universe and those characters, but not those plotlines. Letty is alive, so are Jesse and Vince. Brian went native far earlier and quit the force while framing Tran for the trucks. I know, it's not really believable, but it's my universe.**

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Pulling up in front of DT Automotive, Mikaela Banes mused on her life and the events that had led her to this point in time: namely the alien robot war she'd been sucked into, including but not limited to the self-centered-ass-with-a-hero-complex she'd called a boyfriend about four years too long. The aforementioned war having included being kidnapped by various agencies, multiple (she'd hazard to say regular) near-death experiences, walking-talking-robots-the-size-of-her-_house_-that-turned-into-cars, and the interesting notion of being considered both a war hero _and_ a threat to national security _simultaneously_.

Leaving her Harley parked where she could see it from inside the shop and carrying her backpack by one strap, she prayed that leaving Tranquility and all it's ghosts was the right decision. She shrugged out of her leather jacket and hoped her jeans and white t-shirt weren't too dirty from the road as she stepped from the oppressive Los Angeles heat into the blessedly cool, shady interior of the garage. The thing about garages, for her anyway, was that they were always familiar: they had the same tools, that performed the same jobs on engines that functioned essentially the same.

"We don't do motorcycles." a gravelly female voice said from her left and Mikaela turned to find a short, curvy Latina in low-riding leather pants and heavy boots managing to look at her threateningly whilst leaning casually on the counter behind her.

"I'm looking for Dominic? Toretto?" 'Kaela offered politely.

"Well he doesn't do skanks, so why don't you go sniffing around somewhere else?" the woman offered aggressively.

Deciding to be as non-confrontational as possible she changed her request, "Or Mia's fine too?"

The other woman narrowed her eyes, "Oh no. You can get the fuck out of my garage before I beat your ass little girl." she snarled, taking a step towards Mikaela.

"Letty. I have _asked_ you to stop threatening customers. Please." a deep voice interrupted from behind Mikaela and she turned to find just the man she'd been looking for: Dominic Toretto, in the flesh. Though, she didn't remember him being quite so... Big. Granted, she'd still been in high school then and he hadn't gone to prison yet, so obviously things must have changed.

His eyes widened in recognition, "Micky?" he moved forward to embrace her, "Didn't expect you so soon girl."

She hugged him back and shrugged, "Didn't have very many loose ends to tie up."

"Dom." Letty ground out, "Who the hell is she?"

Dom turned to include 'Letty' in the conversation, "Let, this is Mikaela, my old man's best friend's kid. She's family."

"Hey!" Mikaela shoved Dom in his (impossibly well-built, sexy) chest, "Who're you calling 'kid'?"

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Over the next few days Mikaela was introduced to the rest of the team: Mia, who'd squealed and hugged her excitedly, having missed having a fellow 'girl' around; Vince, who'd definitely noticed that the little girl he'd grown up with had grown up; Leon, with whom she'd bonded over a mutual love of angry rap music and motorcycles; and Jesse, who she'd already begun looking at as a little brother, just as everyone else did. There was apparently a member of the team missing: Brian, who'd gone to fetch a friend in Barstow and was due back any time.

Dom put her to work in the garage almost immediately, much to Vince and Letty's obvious chagrin: Dom's trust of her skills, (given they'd learned cars together, from both of their dads) apparently meant nothing.

She was bent over the engine of an '05 Civic in need of a new timing belt, radiator, head gasket seal and oil filter with Jesse when two new men walked in: a skinny, blond white boy and,

"Goddammit Epps! I fuckin' _told_ Will that I don't need a babysitter!" Mikaela exploded, "I _don't_ need a bodyguard or a babysitter and you can turn your ass right back around, go back to NEST and tell Will he can take his overbearing, controlling, neurotic hero-complex and shove it!"

The tall, well-built black man at whom she'd been shouting looked bewildered, "Look, babygirl, I don't know what you're so upset 'bout, but I'm not here to babysit ya'll and I don't know a 'Will'."

Kaela paused in her rant and became aware of everyone staring at her, "You – You mean you're _not_ Sergent Michael Epps, US Air Force?"

He chuckled, "Nah, sweetie, Mikey's my do-gooder cousin, I'm just the family black sheep. Name's Roman Pierce." he offered a hand for her to shake.

She accepted the offered hand, "Mikaela Banes, sorry about the yelling." she blushed.

He waved a carefree hand, "'t's fine babygirl, wouldn't be the first time I've gotten yelled at by someone thinking I'm him. But now tell me: where the hell did you meet Mikey? 'Cause last I heard he was working some real classified black ops stuff in like Qatar or some shit, 'n I _know_ they ain't letting no civilians into that mess."

Mikaela opened her mouth to lie, paused and instead, looking at Dom uncomfortably, asked, "Do any of you remember what went down in Mission city a few years back? The rumors of 'Giant Robot Cars'?" At a group sort of nod, she continued, "They weren't just rumors. The videos weren't faked, the eyewitness accounts weren't a conspiracy."

Jesse's jaw dropped, "The car gods are real?"

Kaela shook her head, "No gods, Aliens. Cybertronians. Giant fucking aliens that turn into cars who brought their war to our planet. Some of them say they're here to protect us."

"You act like you've met them personally." Dom rumbled.

Mikaela nodded slowly, "My, uh, ex happened to buy a Camaro that was a 'bot. We sorta got sucked in by association. We were at Mission City and later Qatar."

Blond guy, who by process of elimination had to be Brian,'s jaw dropped, "Holy shit! You're Witwicky's girlfriend! You guys... You guys saved the world." at Kaela's quizzical look he elaborated for her, "Brian O'Connor, formerly of the LAPD, now of DT Automotive. We got briefed when Sector 7 got dismantled."

'Kaela resisted the urge to yank out her a hair by the handful, "I just can't escape these government goons..." she growled, turning and stomping back to the Civic.

She grabbed a ¾ ratchet and started pulling off the bolts on the head gasket, bracing both motorcycle-booted feet on the inside rim and her knees on the engine block so as to reach the bolts in back. She ignored the footsteps approaching.

"Bri's done being a government goon." Dom informed her.

"You sure?" she snarled from halfway inside the car, "They like to say shit like that."

"Mickey. He quit the Bureau rather than turn me in. He's on the up and up. Don't be paranoid." Dom growled.

She slammed down the ratchet and climbed out of the car to glare at him, "And I've been kidnapped four times by three different government agencies, two of which aren't supposed to exist! I've earned the fuckin' right to be paranoid!"

Dom appraised her, as if she'd said something unexpected that impressed him, before he changed the subject, "Who's Will? You mentioned him talking to Rome. He the boyfriend?"

Kaela looked startled at the subject change and picked up her ratchet again, changing the socket before starting on the timing belt cover, "No. _Sam_ is the ex._ Will_ is the Captain – or I guess it's Major now – that's the liason between the 'bots and the Secretary of Defense. He looked out for us in Mission City and Qatar. He's the crazy, controlling, overprotective older brother I never had."

"Sam huh? He the one whose ass I need to kick?" Dom offered.

Kaela rolled her eyes, "No. Grab the prybar. I can't get at the engine mounts. Nobody's ass needs kicking Dom."

Dom moved behind her to push the engine away so she could unscrew the bolts, "So you called me, crying, after midnight rambling about needing out of Tranquility and 'suffocating' and there are no faces I need to beat in? Bullshit Mickey. I don't know what he did to hurt you, but he definitely needs a couple-a broken bones for it."

'Kaela sighed, refusing to acknowledge whether her giving in was due to his argument or his large, masculine presence pressed in behind her doing inappropriate things to her girlie parts, "He doesn't deserve a beating. It's not his fault we couldn't hack four years of a long-distance relationship. Not his fault we only worked great together in the middle of a fucking battlefield. Or that he could only say he loved me when he'd literally died on me and been brought back to life. But the slutty Victoria's Secret model who's wearing the ring that should be _mine_ less than two months after we broke up and flaunting it in _my_ hometown? She should be beaten with a socket wrench." she muttered bitterly.

She felt Dom freeze and realized what she'd said "Shit. Dom." she turned to lean on the car bumper as he backed away a step, "You know I didn't mean it like that."

Dom set the prybar on the nearest toolbox and chuckled darkly, "Like what? Like I didn't beat someone almost to death with a socket wrench? Like I didn't destroy someone's life and spend two years of my life in the worst hell imaginable? Because I fuckin' _did_ do it Mickey! And I can tell you it's not worth it. Not even close."

'Kaela took a step closer, gently resting a hand on his shoulder, "I know Dom. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

He covered her hand with his, "Don't worry about it. I moved past that a long time ago."

Kaela became acutely aware that not only were they the only two people in the garage all of a sudden, but that she was in _very _close proximity to a very sexy man who was suddenly pinning her between his fuckin' tree-trunk arms and the bumper of the car, smirking down at her, "And don't think I didn't notice that little ass-wiggle when I was behind you, brat, you do that to torture me?"

Suddenly not quite so shy, this was _Dom_ after all, they grown up together, she smirked back up at him, "Why? Did it?"

"Maybe."

And then his mouth was on hers and oh-my-holy-Primus the man was _good_. He pressed her up against the car and positively plundered her mouth while she pressed herself as closely as she could to him, fire that she'd never felt with Sam burning through her veins.

Just as suddenly he broke the kiss, pulling back slowly, his eyes on hers, "Shit."

"Shit?" she asked worriedly.

"Letty."

"Shit."

She distangled her arms from around his neck and let him step back, "Right. This was a mistake. I'll uh. I guess I'll see you at home. I'm gonna go. Um. Out. Bye." She skittered around the car and out the side entrance to the garage and only when he heard her bike rev to life did Dom realize he really didn't want her to leave, "It wasn't a mistake."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

At exactly 8:27 that evening the Toretto house fell into chaos. By 9:00 Letty had packed her things and left and it was quiet. At 11:00 Dom sent the remaining team members out to find Mikaela, who still hadn't come home.

At a quarter to two, Dom _really_ started to panic, "Oh shit. Shit. Fuckin' shit. Danny's gonna kill me." he groaned to Mia, who'd stayed home with him.

Mia rolled her eyes and scoffed, "He's not gonna kill you Dom. He knows she's a big girl who can handle herself."

He's opened his mouth to argue when he heard the unmistakable roar of her Harley coming down the street and made for the door, intending to rip her a new one. The bike had pulled into the driveway and Vince followed in his car while Roman dismounted the bike. Dom made for Rome with a growl, "Where's Mikaela?"

Rome nodded towards Vince's car, "We found babygirl at El Gato Negro. She almost went home with Edwin."

Dom was already making his way to the passenger side, where Vince was talking, "You need help out Mickey or you got it?- Damn it, if you puke in my car you're cleaning it out."

Mikaela's voice, though distinctly slurred, snapped back from the seat, "Fuck you Vince. If I puke it's your own damn fault. Told you not to take that corner so fast. Dick."

Vince was shoved out of the doorway and two booted feet planted themselves firmly on the asphalt, Mikaela looked up and, upon noticing Dom, her entire demeanor changed.

"Dom! Hi!" she said excitedly, lurching to her feet, only to overbalance and end up using Dom himself for support.

He chuckled at her antics, catching her and starting to guide her to the house, "What have you done to yourself, Mickey?"

Her bug brown eyes gazed up at him in confusion, "Whaddaya mean Dommy? I just went and had a few beers. With my friends Jack and Jose," she giggled.

Vince snorted, "Daniels and Cuervo, she means."

"And!" Kaela informed him, standing to her full height, "It's all your fault." she poked him in the nose.

Dom smirked amusedly, "Oh really now?" he started guiding her up the stairs.

"Yuuuuup." she informed him, "Cuz if you hadn't kissed me like that and made my stomach do those flippity-flop thingies and you're with Letty so I had to go drink with Jack and Jose! Sexy bastard."

It was at this point that Dom gave up on getting her up the stairs on her own and instead scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her room, in which time she managed to half-pass out cuddled against his chest.

He went to lay her down, but she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and frowned at him, "Stayyyyy." she whined, "I know, I know you loooove Letty and that I'm just some kid to you, but just stay and hold me tonight, okay?" she asked plaintively.

Dom sighed, his conscience (the part that sounded like his dad) telling him to leave, that staying wouldn't be fair to her, but the thought of leaving made his chest ache, and one look in those chocolatey-brown eyes and he had no willpower.

"Sure Mickey, I'll stay." he murmured, climbing into the narrow twin bed beside her.

She surprised him by shoving herself up and kicking off her shoes and then her jeans, flinging the latter at the door in her enthusiasm, before draping herself across his chest and actually falling asleep.

Dom remained awake awhile longer, watching her sleep, "I don't think you're a kid Mickey. Not ever."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry if there's any confusion about this chapter, I replaced it with a newly-written longer version that I hope you like better. Shoutout to Bookfreak25 for reviewing: Enough 'bot for you? O.o! **

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Mikaela woke the next morning to the sun being Too. Damn. Bright.

She rolled over in an attempt to bury her face in the pillow, but the rapid movement caused her stomach to roll violently...

"That's gotta be the fastest I've ever seen anyone get to the bathroom." Dom's voice observed behind her, he chuckled when she growled something that ended in, "And the horse you rode in on, asshole," in between heaves.

He leaned in the doorway as she levered herself to her feet and had to grab the counter for support, "You okay?"

She ran a hand over her face and groaned, "I'll live." she pulled out the mouthwash and took a capful to rise her mouth out and then spat it back out immediately, "On second thought, I think the mouthwash is trying to kill me. Ugh."

He chuckled, "Well, it's good to see you conscious and not slurring, Sunshine."

She shot him a glare as she attempted to brush her teeth instead, "Fuck you Dominic. Shouldn't your girlfriend be here trying to kill us both with that sharp-ass tongue of hers? I thought you weren't _allowed_ to be alone with me."

Now it as Dom's turn to growl, pressing himself into her space, "Letty don't have shit to say about what I do or who I talk to. She said we're done? Fine, I'm fuckin' done with her shit."

"Really?" her eyebrows rose, "Didn't think you'd have the balls, Toretto."

He braced both hands on the counter on either side of her, "You'd be surprised at what I have the balls to do, Mickey."

"Like?"

"This." He leaned in and kissed her, fiercely, one arm wrapping around her waist to anchor her to him until she pulled away.

"I can't do this right now." She sighed, "I'm half-dressed, hungover, I have puke breath and anyway, I'm not kissing you again until you get it together and take me on a real date, Toretto. Move. I gotta shower." she shoved at his chest.

Dom grinned cockily at her, "Is that an invitation to hop in the shower with you?"

"No." she shoved him again and this time he let her push him out the door of her bathroom, "Now get out." The door slammed in his face, only to open again a second later, "And _don't_ be here when I come out."

Dom grinned and went to take a shower of his own, whistling as he made his way down the hall to his room.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

Apparently Mikaela had made it a point to be out of the house by the time he was dressed and ready for work, though he beat her to the garage. She walked in ten minutes after he did, fresh Starbucks in hand, in her motorcycle boots, jeans and a wife-beater on under her leather jacket.

"Morning Sunshine!" Vince called loudly from the car he was working on and everyone chuckled as Mickey winced visibly and tossed her jacket on the couch and climbed under the Civic again.

In consideration for what had to be a hell of a hangover, they all worked in companionable silence for the majority of the morning, only speaking to ask about work or request tools. Lunchtime comes and goes without anyone noticing and eventually Mia brings in a tray of sandwiches, "Hi boys!... And Mickey... Sorry," she giggled, "I'm still getting used to it."

Mikaela waved it off, already chewing, "Ifs noffa buvoo. Ohmivod. Diff if fogrooof." she said, spraying crumbs everywhere and then wincing.

Dom and the guys snorted as she swallowed and cleared her throat awkwardly, "Sorry. I said, 'It's not a big deal' and that the food is good, Mi'."

After they finished and started back to work, Dom grabbed Mikaela's arm, "Can we talk?" At her nod he lead her out of the garage and to his office.

He turned to shut the door and found her leaning one hip against his desk, all attitude, and it happened to be pretty damn sexy, "What's up?" she asked.

He rubbed a hand awkwardly over his head, "It's about yesterday. And this morning."

She nodded, "The kiss. Look, I get that you and Letty are done, but I'm not down to be a rebound." she informed him.

He nodded, "You're not. Let' and were done for a long time before you showed up."

She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at him, "Really? 'Cause as far as I know you just broke up yesterday."

He sighed, "We both knew it was over, nobody wanted to actually say the words though. Last six months it's been all sex and fighting. And then you showed up. And you're a lot of things she's not, like secure in yourself, and smartassed and you don't take my shit or take me 'King of the Streets' seriously, you take me seriously as Dominic and she never did. So yeah, maybe we _officially_ broke up yesterday, but only because we were both too chickenshit to say the words."

Mickey looked at him, really stared at him for a moment before opening her mouth, "Alright."

"Alright?"

"Alright. You can take me to dinner tomorrow night. Somewhere I'd have to dress up for." she informed him before opening the office door and letting herself out.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

The next several weeks passed rapidly for Mikaela; she went to work, went on four dates with Dom (she'd decided she wasn't going to sleep with him until there was a damn ring on her finger though. She'd learned her lesson from Sam, thank you very much,) and been dragged out clubbing several times by Mia and Rome.

She was currently on her fifth date with Dom and seriously reconsidering her ban on sex because damn was he doing some interesting things to her lady parts. Not literally, obviously, but just standing here on the beach with him, kissing, was more than enough to have the cheerleaders in her lady parts break out the pom-poms.

He pulled back, "Convincing you yet?" he asked in a teasing rumble.

She pulled back and leaned down to take off her heels, "Thinking about it."

"Uh-huh." he folded his arms across his chest, "And how would I go about changing your mind?"

She grinned sunnily up at him and then took off running across the sand, "You have to catch me first!" she called back.

She could hear him chasing after her in the sand and turned to run backwards, "Getting tired so soon old man?" she teased.

"Hey!" He protested, "Who're you calling old?"

"You!"

Dom put on a burst of speed and lunged for her, only to miss as she darted away and he landed face-first in the sand. He rolled over and folded his hands behind his head, staring up at the stars waiting patiently as she made her way back to him, planting one foot on either side of his knees and leaning over, "Tired?"

"Nah. Just lazy." he told her, before kicking out his knees and knocking her feet from under her so she landed straddling him, "Oof!"

She braced her hands on his chest, "So was this your plan all along?"

"Nope. Just a nice bonus." Dom said as he curled his hands around her bare knees and leaned up to kiss her again.

Mikaela sighed into the kiss and pressed her whole body close to him, kissing back just as fiercely until he rolled his hips into her core and she groaned and broke the kiss, "Now _that_ might be the thing that changes my mind." she told him.

"Really?" he grinned, repeating the motion and watching as she threw her head back and bit her lip, "Wanna head back to the house?"

She nodded and stood, dusting sand off of herself as he did the same and accepting her hand as they made their way back to the Charger.

The ride home was torture: Dom drove painfully slow and kept his hand curled around her thigh, inching it a bit further up as they neared the house. She waited until they were on their own street before grabbing his head and kissing him fiercely, before pulling away and unbuckling her seatbelt. She was halfway out the door before she noticed the bright yellow Camaro parked in front of Dom's house.

Mikaela had yanked on her shoes and was storming angrily towards 'Bee before Dom was aware of what was happening. He followed in time to see the other driver exit his car and Mickey hiss, "What the _hell _are _you_ doing here?"

The other driver, a guy about Mickey's age, in a plaid shirt and jeans, with that baby-faced look that probably meant he got away with a _lot_ of shit, shoved his hands in his pockets and looked sheepishly at Mikaela, "I wanted to talk. 'Bee said he'd tracked you down here so here I am."

She turned her glare on the Camaro and kicked the tire angrily and the car made a sad noise to which she snapped, "What part of '_Don't let Sam know where I am!' _was difficult to comprehend, Bee? How fuckin' hard is that?"

The car seemed to shrink in upon itself under her glare which she returned to the guy, "What? The underwear model get tired of you Witwhicky? 'Cause you said we were done and that didn't mean that you're allowed to come crawling back when she dumps your ass."

He leaned on the door of the car, "No. I'm still engaged to Carly. Not by choice exactly."

"And what the hell does that mean?" Dom was once again surprised by her ability to turn him on by being a bitch. It was hot.

"It means she's pregnant and it's pretty much a shotgun wedding." He sighed, looking tired.

'Kaela folded her arms, "And what, Sam? I'm supposed to be happy?"

Sam shoved off the car, "Well, 'Kaela, it'd be pretty damn nice if you'd recognize that I'm not in Tranquility with Carly right now. I'm here with _you_. I love _you_. I wanna be with _you._"

Mikaela scoffed, "And you're here to ask me to be the other woman? Because the answer is 'Fuck. No.' Sam."

"Mikaela. Be reasonable here. Remember? We were great together." He said, clearly trying to pacify her.

"Be reasonable? Fuck you Sam! You broke up with me! And news flash: we were shit together!" she snarled.

The kid threw up his hands, "Shit? Mickey, what the hell are you talking about?"

Mikaela's hands fisted at her sides as she resisted the urge to hit him, "I'm talking about how it took you _dying_ to get us to say 'I love you'! I'm talking about how you couldn't remember to call when you were supposed to or answer the friggin' phone when you were at school! I'm talking about how you gave the ring we picked out to _her._ Fuck you, Sam. I'm better than that. Go home." she turned and started for the house, sliding her hand easily into Dom's.

Sam's voice called from behind them, "Better than that? Mikaela, we saved the world together and you seem to think you should settle for a grease monkey like him?"

This time she did hit him, "In case you forgot, _I'm _a grease monkey. Like him. And Dom treats me like a princess. I was never gonna be good enough for your perfect fucking life anyway Sam. Stop trying."

She paused when she was almost back to Dom, and turned, "Bye 'Bee. Come visit without him one day, huh? And tell Will and Epps I miss them."

The car's lights flashed in understanding, though Sam watched as Dom held the door for her and until the lights downstairs went out.

Inside, 'Kaela leaned against the closed door of Dom's room, "I'm so sorry." she sighed, suddenly emotionally exhausted, "I didn't know he was going to show up and start shit and he kinda ruined a great night and-"

Dom kissed her softly "Mickey. It's fine. Not your fault. I'm proud of how you handled it, okay? Breathe." he waited until she'd taken a few deep breaths to continue, "Now. Excited as I was for where this night was headed, I think we both know it's not a good idea right now."

Mikaela opened her mouth to protest and he covered it, "No. However, I was _really _looking forward to waking up next to you tomorrow, so I'd like you to stay." at her confused look he clarified, "No sex. I just wanna wake up next to you."

She leaned in close and kissed him softly, "I'd like that."

Later, stretched out across his chest in one of his shirts and her underwear, Mikaela smiled softly, thinking to herself that the night had ended better after all.

**R&R please!**


	3. Chapter 3

Mikaela woke up alone in Dom's bed and for some reason that bugged her, so after she hauled her ass out of bed she showered and changed, fully intending to go into the garage and take out her irritation on a couple cars' systems.

She didn't actually make it out the door however, because when she made her way downstairs the entire team plus Mia were parked at the table, apparently waiting for her. She paused, "Um... Hey? You guys hold up breakfast for me?"

Rome chuckled, "Not exactly babygirl."

"Okay," she propped her hands on her hips, "What's going on?"

"You got a package." Dom growled, "From your ex."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

She shrugged, holding out her hand for the brown box, "Point me towards a trash compactor then."

She met Dom's eyes squarely, annoyed that he was acting like she was encouraging Sam or something. Ass.

Brian deposited the box on the table and as she reached for it, it began vibrating in place and then a familiar RC car exploded out of it and shot across the room, shifting out of his alt-form and cowering in front of her, "Please, Warrior-Goddess! Don't put me in the trash compactor!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes and dropped into a crouch, "Wheelie, what are you doing here?" she enquired, lifting him onto the table, where the whole team gawked, "Guys, this is Wheelie, one of the Autobots."

Wheelie attempted to climb over her shoulder to stay hidden but she deposited him back on the table and queried again, "Why aren't you with Sam?"

"I got tired of sleeping in the rain, the blonde bitch doesn't believe in 'bots in the house. It's racism, I tell you!"

She saw the guys crack smiles and Mia smother a giggle out of the corner of her eye, "Let me guess: you'd rather stay with me?" she pursed her lips.

"That would be the idea." he growled and then caught her glare, "I- I mean if it pleases the Warrior Goddess?"

She caught Dom's eye and he nodded, one eyebrow quirked, "I'm sure that'd be fine, Wheelie, I'll find you a free outlet to plug into later."

While the team (mostly Brian and Jesse) were becoming acquainted with the Autobot, Dom pulled her into the other room, "Warrior Goddess?" he asked, smirking.

"Ugh." she leaned into his chest unconsciously, "He's been calling me that since Day One."

Dom attempted to wrap both arms around her and she shoved him away, suddenly annoyed again, "By the way: leaving me to wake up alone, Dom? Fuckin' classy shit right there asshole."

He caught her around the waist, growling in her ear, "Was gonna bring you breakfast in bed, but I didn't exactly get the chance, did I?"

She rolled her eyes, "Fuck breakfast, I'd have been happier with you, though I'm starting to rethink that." she snapped.

He growled and kissed her, bruisingly hard, so she forgot why she was irritated.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

A few days later, as dinner with the team was finishing up, Mikaela glanced up, remembering something she'd wanted to ask, "Hey V," the man in question glanced up, "Can you recommend a good tattoo guy for me?"

Mia looked surprised, "What do you wanna get?"

"I'm gonna get the Autobots' faceplate on my leg."

"Absolutely not." Dom growled, as if he was the King they treated him as on the streets.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, "I'm sorry Dominic, did you have something to say?"

"You are NOT getting some stupid tattoo for the Autobots like you're their fuckin' property."

"I wasn't aware what I do to my body was your business." she snapped, shoving past him, "I'm going for a walk."

"No, you're not." Dom roped an arm around her waist and picked her up, "This discussion is not over." he carried her upstairs and tossed her, rather unceremoniously, on his bed, kicking the door shut behind him, "You are NOT getting a tattoo that practically says "Property of the Army"!" he snarled, looming over her and trying to be intimidating.

She shoved his chest, "Dammit Dom! Would you prefer I stamp property of Dominic Toretto across my ass? Would THAT make you happy? Cause that's not gonna fuckin' happen!"

"So you rather be their property than mine?" he growled.

"I'm not anybody's property!" she yelled, shoving him out of her personal space and standing up, "Not the Autobots', not the Government's and sure as shit not yours!"

"Then why do you want the damn tattoo?" he demanded.

"Because they're family as much as you and Mia!" she screamed, "Because I can't visit because that means seeing Sam! Because up until a month ago I had a future and knew where I was going- with them! Because I survived a WAR with them and I deserve to be able to commemorate that!"

Dom looked stunned at her admission, so she continued, "You don't watch people die, soldiers who were trained to survive the same SHIT I went through, you don't watch them die, you don't watch them get blown to smithereens while by some miracle I survived, without wanting to pay tribute to them, and you DON'T get to judge me for that or get jealous about it Dominic, you just don't." she snapped and yanked open the door and Dom winced as it slammed behind her. A moment later the front door slammed as well.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Mikaela ended up walking to the shop to clear her head, and once there she paced, full of both fury at Dom and a crushing wave of homesickness for the 'Bots and the soldiers who had become like family for her.

With a frustrated groan, she yanked her phone out of her pocket and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" an even more familiar voice answered.

"Will? It's Mickey." she was surprised to feel tears trickle down her cheeks as she poured out the whole story to him.

"Do you want to come home?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"No." she said firmly, "I love my job and my friends and my life down here, I'm just homesick."

"Well that's easily fixed."

"I'm not coming home, Will."

"I know. Listen, what's the address at that shop of yours? I've got a care package with your name on it, Mickey."

"Really?" she asked, distracted.

"I'm sending it overnight, so expect it tomorrow early afternoon, okay?" she gave him the address and they said goodbye, then she worked on one of the cars until almost 2AM, when she was sure Dom would be asleep, then headed back to the house. She slept til after ten, took her time eating breakfast and getting dressed, then strolled into the garage just after noon where Vince saluted her in greeting and she started back on one of the cars and lost herself for a few hours.

Just before three, she was pulled away but the roar of a familiar diesel engine and rushed to clean up and yank off her coveralls in time to meet the dark grey GMC Topkick as it pulled up to the curb, "'Hide! You here with my care package?" she called, completely aware that Dom and the team had followed her flurry of activity out the door.

"Better." the truck rumbled, as the passenger side door opened and a familiar soldier, though currently lacking his fatigues, climbed down.

"Will!" she yelled, hurling herself at him for a hug.

He grinned and hugged her back, "Missed you too, brat."

"Mind introducing your friend?" Dom rumbled, sounding irritated.

Mikaela pulled away and turned to face the group: Dom looked angry with a side of jealous and suspicious.

She performed introductions and let Vince and Brian corner him with questions about the Mikaela he knew as opposed to the one they knew. Mikaela and Dom disappeared from view and everyone assumed they were trying to work things out like Dom had planned- until they heard Mikaela screaming again, " Do NOT tell me what to do Dominic Anthony Toretto! I'm not Letty and I will NOT just roll over and fucking die so you can feel like a man and boss me around! Fuck you Dom!"

They all heard Dom yelling back, though the rumble in his voice made the words indistinguishable.

"Oh you can get off your fucking high horse you cocky son of a bitch! You are NOT the King of the Streets with me and you can drop that attitude like I'm gonna fall on my knees and blow you for looking at me!"

The team and Will winced collectively and didn't bother to look busy as the office door slammed open and 'Kaela stormed out, making for the exit, when Dom strode out after her, grabbing her arm and tugging her to a halt, "Mickey. Stop." he requested.

She turned and raised her free hand to slap him, but he caught her wrist, "Stop. I'm trying to apologize here and apparently I'm doing it wrong so just wait."

She threw up her hands and stepped back to let him talk.

"It was... Wrong of me to tell you not to get the tattoo. It's your body and what you do with it is none of my business."

She glared up at him, "And?"

"And I'm an asshole and I've treated you really shitty lately." he said slowly.

"And?" she demanded.

"'Sorry!'" V coughed from behind them.

"And I'm sorry!" he burst out as she glared at the peanut gallery.

Her eyes shifted to Dom again and she softened, "Fine. I'm sorry too. For calling you an asshole and a dick and all that."

Dom waved it off and curled an arm around her middle, pulling her close, "We okay?"

"We're good." she smiled softly and leaned into the offered kiss.

"Seriously?" Will muttered, "I drove down here to see this? I was at least hoping to kick his ass for making Mickey cry!"

Vince turned sharply, "He made her CRY?"

Dom had pulled back from their kiss, "Is the peanut gallery right? I made you cry?" he asked seriously.

She nodded and he winced, "I'm sorry about that too."

She quirked an eyebrow at him, "I'm sure we can think of a way for you to make that up to me."

"Oh, definitely." he grinned, picking her up around the waist and carrying her to his car,

" Don't come home for a while!" he yelled at the team as he walked.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Back at the house, Mikaela let out a soft, "oomph!" and Dom tossed her unceremoniously on the bed, but was distracted when he followed her, she shoved his shoulder until he rolled over so she was on top and they kissed fiercely.

As his hands slid up her shirt and started peeling it off of her, she paused and pulled back, "Dom?" His hands immediately stilled and came to rest on her hips as he gazed at her steadily, "I'm- I- I made myself a promise after Sam that I wasn't having sex with someone who wasn't willing to stay the distance with me, you know?" At his nod, she continued, "So, much as I want to jump your bones and screw your brains out… Can we wait? Are you okay with that?"

He looked at her like she'd grown a second head and she started pulling away, "Nevermind. This was a bad idea. I'm gonna go…"

As she moved to climb off him, he caught her around the waist and kissed her softly, "I get it, okay? Don't get upset or think you wrecked things by asking to take things slow. We'll go as fast or as slow as you need, but you don't ever need to worry about me reacting badly to it."

She nodded and pressed her face into his neck, mumbling, "I don't deserve you," into his bared skin.

He kissed the top of her head and they were quiet for a moment, "So… When you say 'No sex'… what does that entail?"

She glanced up at him, "Um. I dunno. What did you have in mind?"

He smirked at her, "Like, if say I wanted to go down on you, would that be thumbs up or thumbs down?"

Mikaela's jaw dropped at how blasé he was about it, "I wanna say thumbs up…"

"But…" He prodded.

"I've never actually had a guy do that for me."

He raised an eyebrow, "Well then," he rumbled, unbuttoning her jeans and starting to slide them over her hips, "I guess you can't turn it down until you know what you'd be missing, right?"

As her panties followed her jeans to the far corner of the room and he settled easily between her knees, she gave him a shakey smile as he pressed a soft kiss to her hipbone.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Later, she shifted in bed next to him as he kissed her bare shoulder, "Good, huh?" he rumbled.

She sighed, "Definite thumbs up."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

**A/N: Anyone thrilled about Will's appearance? I know I have some readers who requested it. =) I'm sorry it took so long to get this out, I have a lot of balls in the air right now and I'm not a great juggler, so my FFN stuff kinda slid to the wayside. =( **

**Did you like the progression? Dislike it? Drop me a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Tell me about Egypt." Dom murmured softly to her while they were both laying there, half-asleep.

Mikaela shifted, pulling a pillow under her and resting her head on her folded arms, "What about it?" she asked softly, curious.

"Dunno." He turned onto his side, sliding a hand over the bare skin at the small of her back, " 'was thinking about when you yelled at Sam about it a few weeks ago, and then our fight yesterday you brought it up. Kinda figured since it made such a big impact on you, I'd like to know what all happened to you there." He explained honestly.

"Well, what do you wanna know?"

He brought his hand up to brush a stray curl out of her face, "What made the biggest impact on you?"

"Watching Sam die." She answered instantly, "I know he woke up maybe a minute later and then went on to save the day and all that, but for the first year I had nightmares where he didn't wake up. I'd watch it happen and know he was gonna wake up and then we'd be at his funeral and I'd be watching his mom throw herself on the coffin."

"Still have 'em?"

"Yes and no. They ended before we did. But I never really forgave him for not taking it seriously either." She explained openly.

"He didn't?" Dom prodded, curious.

"No. He acted like 'of course he was never in any real danger of dying,' so there was no need to worry about it or discuss what happened after. It made me mad, because I watched him _die_ and he was playing it off like it wasn't a big deal." She said.

"What happened after?"

"I told him I loved him. And he said it back."

"And that made you mad because…" Dom was honestly curious here, knowing what Sam did wrong might help him figure out what _not_ to do.

"Because no matter how much I said it after that, he refused to say it again." She said bitterly, "It was like while his life was on the line it was fine because we might not have to survive to have to prove it, but when it mattered so much more… He couldn't do it."

Dom slid an arm around her waist, pulling them closer, "Well… My life isn't in danger right now, right? No alien war going on or bombs going off?"

"No…."

"Then I love you Mikaela." He purred, before leaning in for a kiss.

"How do you know that?" she interrupted.

He pulled back, "Huh?" he asked inelegantly.

"How do you know you love me? How do you know it's real? How do you know you'll still be able to say it in the morning in front of Mia and Vince? How do you know your feelings won't change when I put on clothes?" She demanded.

Dom cupped her face carefully, "Mikaela. I'm not saying it because we're naked or because we're alone or because I want something from you. I'm saying I love you because I mean it. Because you're my partner in all the ways that matter to me. Because you challenge me in every way possible, but you trust that even when we fight I'm coming home to you. Because you trust me. Because you came in, kicked my crew into shape and still earned their respect. Because you're beautiful, and smart and funny, and tough and because you surprise me every single day and I don't ever want that to stop. That's why I love you."

She stared at him, completely dumbfounded, for a full thirty-eight seconds (he counted) before she gave him a brilliant smile and kissed him fiercely, "I love you too Dominic." She whispered, "I should have told you sooner."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Mikaela woke up the next morning with a start, "Shit!" she hurled herself out of bed and into semi-clean clothes, "Shit-shit-shit!" she cursed as she yanked on her boots.

"Whazzamatta?" Dom groaned from the bed, pulling his face from its spot buried in the pillow to watch her.

"Forgot Will was here til just now!"

"And?" he queried.

"I have no idea if he even had somewhere to sleep! I'm _such_ a shitty hostess!" she groaned, plopping on the bed with her head in her hands.

Dom sat up with a grunt and rubbed a hand over her back, "I'm sure the team gave him your room if he didn't have a place to stay."

She perked up immediately, "Ya'think? I hope he didn't leave. I miss him."

Dom rumbled, "In a big-brother-you-never-had sort of way, right?" he asked, vaguely jealous of the clean-cut military boy.

Her head jerked up to look at him, "Are you—Jealous?"

"No." Dom levered himself out of bed to get himself dressed, too.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

After she decided to join him in the shower, it took Dom and Mikaela almost another hour to make it downstairs for breakfast, where they found the entire team, plus Will, at the table, apparently waiting on them.

Mikaela muttered something about, "_have_ to stop doing this shit…"

Will quirked an eyebrow at her and she scowled at him back before pouring herself a cup of coffee. She took a sip and a low, throaty moan escaped in the quiet room.

"_That_ was the noise I heard last night." Leon informed Vince, "Told you it wasn't the house creaking or some shit."

Dom slid an arm around her midsection and growled softly in her ear, "Keep making noises like that and we might just end up back upstairs."

She snorted, "No. I'm finishing that damn Honda today if it's the last thing I do." She informed him.

He raised an eyebrow at her as the Vince and Leon both whistled, "De-niiiied." "Whippish!"

Will coughed, "Dominic? Can I speak with you? In the other room?" he requested.

Dom followed him out into the living room, well-aware that the idiots were definitely going to try listening in, "What can I do for you, Will?"

Will folded his arms, "Look. I've been through some crazy shit with Mickey, and I know she can handle herself. But she's like my baby sister and she's been a mess since Sam ended things."

When Dom merely nodded, Will continued, "So when she moved down here, I let her do it, but I figured she was just running away from her problems. But I got down here and she's… happy. Like I haven't seen her in years. She's thriving like she never did with NEST. With Sam. And I dropped the ball on her and Sam, so here it is: I've got an entire military special-forces team, seven two-ton robots and the United States Secretary of Defense that are on a first-name basis with that girl, that care about her and want her happy, so if you break her heart, I won't even have to break your face because you'll be a big, greasy stain on the floor of an FBI prison by the time they're done with you."

The two men stared one-another down for a moment before Mikaela started cracking up, "You guys are such fuckin' macho men! Goddam, I could cut the testosterone in here with a knife." she snickered before tugging each of them out the door to the shop.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

**A/N: So can anyone tell I watched Revenge of the Fallen today? With the whole thing about Sam dying? Lol. Also: TWO updates on this in the same month too! Wow! I feel so productive! (Don't get used to it though. I just had a movie-inspired rush of inspiration.)**

**To my loyal reviewers: Thanks you so much for your feedback! It keeps me going!**

**To everyone else: Please review! They make my day and often give me ideas and inspiration!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So, over a year after the last time I updated this one: here's chapter five. I'm sorry it's so late. It, and my X-men fic are works in progress, but I don't always have the time to work on them when I want, thus, here we are.**

**~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~**

Will stayed with them for five days before she came downstairs one morning to find him waiting, in his uniform, with his bag packed at his feet.

She paused, "You're getting called in, huh?" she murmured sadly.

He nodded, "Russians think they may have found a piece of Cybertronian tech, they want me to lead a team in to take a look, should be a clean sweep, in and out."

"There's something you're not saying." she stated, it wasn't a question.

Will nodded, glancing at Dom as he emerged from the kitchen behind her, "It's at Chernoble."

She raised an eyebrow, "Beware radiation sickness... But I know there's more to it than that."

He shook his head, "Maybe. I don't know."

"I've got that Crazy-Autobot-Adventure feeling in my gut."

He laughed softly and hugged her, "Take care of yourself, 'Kaela."

Mikaela hugged him back just as tightly, "You too. Come home safe. And call if you need me. For anything Will, I mean it."

Will nodded and took his leave.

Mikaela watched him leave with a frown marring her forehead, uncomfortable in that she still had that bad feeling in her gut.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The news reports about robot cars and explosions and fighting in the streets in Washington, DC started a few days later. Then Will stopped answering his phone. Dom came home from the garage to find her stuffing clean clothes into a backpack.

"I'm flying into Washington tonight. Shit's hitting the fan and if things get really crazy I wanna be where I can do some good." She paused in her packing to look at him as he gazed at her impassively, "I'm going whether you support me or not, but I'm hoping you understand why I have to."

Dom stared for a long moment and then made his way to the closet without a word. Mikaela's shoulders slumped in defeat: this _would_ be his line, he'd put up with all her crazy, but sending her off into a battle zone was probably his limit.

A battered duffle hit the bed next to hers, Dominic pulled open a dresser drawer and started pulling out jeans and shirts and stuffing them in while she stared incredulously.

She opened her mouth to… argue or something… and then closed it and instead pulled out her phone to book a second plane ticket.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

By the time they landed in DC, things were officially FUBAR. Will had sent a car for her, and she'd expected Ironhide, only to be informed by the government goon driving that he was, for all intents and purposes, dead. Killed by Sentinal Prime.

Shit really started hitting the fan after that: Will had originally sent her and Dom to protect Sarah and Emily "just in case", and also because they technically didn't have the clearance to be in on any meetings, but then the announcement came through that the Autobots were being forced to leave the planet and she'd finally been granted clearance by Mearing to be involved (only her, only to say goodbye,) only for the opportunity to grip the edge of the table in the friggin' War Room with Will as their friends were blown out of the sky moments after takeoff.

The room had been silent for long moments before she carefully stood, pushed her chair back, left the room and made her way down the hall to the nearest women's restroom, where she dry-heaved for long moments.

Things moved even faster: Sam (who she'd seen a few times but had been busy with other things) had apparently decided to go into Chicago, Ground Zero, as it were, with Epps to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. (and Mikaela Banes could tell you _she_ wouldn't have been kidnapped, thankyouverymuch, because _she_ kept a fucking blowtorch in her purse.)

She stared at Will over shitty Pentagon coffee, hours after they got _that_ news as he explained what was next, "… Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana is the closest base we could do outside of the battle zone."

She sighed at her coffee and then looked at him, "Do we even have a snowball's chance in hell or would I have been better off on the Xantium?"

Will stared incredulously, "Am I hearing this? From you? Are you really quitting on me _now_?"

"Seems like the thing to do." She glared from under the rat's nest she called hair these days.

"'Kaela, do you remember how we met?"

She shrugged, "Mission City."

"But do you remember _how_?" Will prodded.

When she shook her head he continued, "You stuck out, because you were this seventeen year-old in a ripped up pink hoodie, who looked like she'd been through two days of hell and needed to _not_ be in a battle zone." She opened her mouth to protest that this was _not helping_ when he got to the point, "and you also refused to leave that battle zone without 'Bee. You hotwired a tow truck, chained him to the back end and drove directly into battle, in reverse, because you refused to quit, even when it looked bad. You wouldn't leave anyone behind."

She nodded, slowly, "Are you sending people in?"

Will blinked, "To Chicago? Too dangerous. And crazy. We're trying drones, but they keep getting shot…. No. absolutely not. Mikaela!" he yelled after her, but she was already out of her seat with some half-assed plan to get herself killed, and walking away.

"If Sam can go be a hero, then so can I!" she yelled back, and well, if that wasn't the least bit helpful.

Will leapt out of his chair and took off after her, "What does that mean? What the hell is your plan here? Hell, why even go? You don't care about Sam's girl, so why?"

She turned, "Because Sam's going to go be a hero and destroy shit if he can, and someone needs to try and get the people of Chicago out of the city before they get caught in the crossfire."

"By yourself?!" he squawked.

"No." she scoffed, "I'll bring Dom."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

**A/N: Thoughts? Comments? Ideas? Questions? Drop me a review and let me know what you think!**


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